Pay attention to what’s working – at the end of your day are you more focused on what went well that day or on what didn’t go so well?

If you’re like most people, you could have an entire day filled with wonderful accomplishments that feel really good, and one thing that didn’t go so well – perhaps you had to deal with a difficult person, or someone criticized you, or something didn’t go the way you hoped it would. Then you find yourself focusing, or even obsessing about that one thing.

It’s so easy to put your energy and attention onto what’s not working, but it’s not at all productive. It’s much more efficient use of your time and energy to put more energy into what’s good and what is working, than what isn’t.

That doesn’t mean that you completely ignore what isn’t working – you make note of it and then do whatever is appropriate to address it. The point is that your mind doesn’t stay there.

At the end of each day make a note of what went well that day. What was the highlight of the day? What did you accomplish that you feel good about? Putting more energy into what is working will bring more things to feel good about.

Set yourself up for success – do you have a morning routine? When you get out of bed do you rush into your day or do you take the time to set up your energy before you start your day?

Here are a few things you can do to prepare yourself energetically to go through your day in the most efficient and productive way possible:

Move your body - take a few minutes to exercise, stretch or walk. It will help to get your body moving and help you feel better physically throughout the day.

Take a few moments of quiet time – journaling, meditation, prayer, reading affirmations – these are all great ways to prepare you emotionally and spiritually for your day.

Eat a healthy, nutritious breakfast – take the time to prepare something that’s really nutritious, rather than grabbing fast food on your way to work. You’ll feel more energized throughout the day.

Prepare your mind – ask yourself questions such as, “what’s the best and most efficient use of my time and energy today?” “What’s the most important thing I can do today to ensure I achieve success in the areas that are most important to me?”

When you take the time to prepare yourself for your day, you set yourself up for success. You’ll feel happier and more motivated, and you’ll get more done with less effort.

Know what you can control – people often feel stuck because they are trying to control external circumstances and/or other people, which is impossible and it sets you up for disappointment and feelings of failure. This quote from Esther Hicks/Abraham sums it up very well:

“The thing that most people do not understand, is that you get to control the way you feel, because you get to choose the thoughts you think. Most people think that they only have the option of responding to the circumstances that surround them. And that's what makes them attempt the impossible, which is to control the circumstances around them, which only feeds their feeling of frustration and vulnerability because it doesn't take very much life experience to discover you can't control all of those circumstances. But you can control your vibration. And when you control your vibration, you've controlled everything that has anything to do with you.”

Reflect, re-assess, move forward – when a new year begins it brings new hope and new possibilities. Often, you can’t wait to jump in and you tell yourself that this year you’ll do things differently and finally have the breakthroughs you’ve been looking for.

Before you take too much action though, it can be extremely helpful to reflect on the past year - what were the highlights? What were the low points? What did you learn? Pause and take a moment to acknowledge your accomplishments and successes, the things you feel good about.

Identify what didn’t work, what you don’t feel good about and ask yourself what you can learn from these situations and what you want to release.

Yes, it’s exciting to move forward and begin a new year, and at the same time, if you take a few moments to reflect on the past year, and re-assess what worked and what didn’t – what you want to continue and what you want to release – this helps to bring your energy into alignment with what you want and it will help you move forward more effectively, more efficiently, and with a greater sense of ease.